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AN 

ORATION, 

DELIVERED At 

SALEM, 

ON THE 

FOURTH OF JULY, 

1812. 

By benjamin PEIRCE, 111^-1''^-^ 



SALEM: 
Printed by Thomas C. .Gushing. 



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SALEM, yULT 4,1^1^' 

IN behalf of the Federal Republicans of Salem, 
<we return you our fincere thanks for the excellent 
Oration this day delivered by you, and requeji you 
to have the goodnefs to furnifh us with a copy for 
iheprefs. 

NATH'L BOWDITCH, ^ 
EBEN'R PUTNAM, • 
JOHN RUSSELL, 
JOHN PRINCE, jr. 
LEVERETT SALTONSTALL, 
GIDEON TUCKER, 
WILLIAM MANSFIELD, 

Committee of Arrangements? 
Hon. Benj. Peirce. 



SALEM, yULT 4, 1812. 
Gentlemen, 

THE copy of my performance, which you do me 
the henour to requefi in fo flattering a manner, is 
refpedfully fubmitted to your difpofal. 

I am your mojl obedient fervant, 

BENy. PEIRCE. 
Nath'l Bowditch, 
Eben'r Putnam, 
John Russell, 
John Prince, jr. 
Leverett Saltonstall, 
Gideon Tucker, 
William Mansfield, Efquires, 

Committee of Arrangements* 



AS 

ORATION. 



My respected Fellow Citizens, 

Glorious were the events and the ter- 
fnination of the revolutionary war. Glorious 
were the times, when the policy of Waihington 
directed our national affairs. Ever facred be the 
memory of thofe illuftrious periods ! May each 
fucceilive anniverfary of the birth-day of our 
nation faithfully recall them to the mind of eve- 
ry American. Never in the whole hiftory of 
man have ftronger claims exifted to the richeft 
offerings of the heart. Never was there great- 
er propriety in the annual appropriation of one 
day to the celebration of pafl achievements. 



Whether we regard the greatnefi, the fplen« 
dour and the variety of thofe tranfadions, 
which marked the rife? and formation of this 
weflern empire ; whether we regard the unpa- 
ralleled profperity, which attended its early pro- 
grefs under the aufpices of its immortal found- 
er ; or whether 'sye regard the great charaders, 
that were produced on this new theatre, and 
the exalted virtues, which were difplayed by 
all clafTes of citizens ; we at once affign to the 
infancy of our republick a rank with the moft 
diftinguifhed periods of ancient or modern 
times* 

Thirteen fmall and diflind provinces, fpread, 
and in moft parts thinly fpread, over a vaft ex- 
tent of country ; unconnected by any perma- 
nent poHtical aflbciation ; difcordant in their 
interefts ; unprovided with the appropriate 
means of war ; abounding in no refources but 
thofe of intelligence, of valour, of patriotifm, 
and of Providence ; while the lukewarmnefs of 
muhitudes was attempting to paralyze, and the 



oppofition of others was threatening to diftraft ; 
undertook the mighty tafk of defending their 
rights by the fword againft the encroachments 
of a power, which, like the humble fatcllites 
of an immenfe orb, they had hitherto attend- 
ed in her proud march among the nations^ 
and which had recently been raifed, by a moft 
brilliant and fuccefsful war with her great con- 
tinental rival, to the very fummit of huraaa 
grandeur. 

When we look back on a conteft, apparently 
as unequal as that, recorded in the facred yo- 
lume, between the ftripling of Hrael and the 
towering champion of the Philiflines ; we are 
aftonifhed at the intrepidity, which dared to 
commence it ; at the perfeverance, with which 
it was carried on j and at the fuccefs, with which 
it was crowned. Begun without encourage- 
ftient from abroad, it was profecutcd without 
foreign afliftance ; until experience had demon- 
ibrated, that the colonies were of themfelves 
able to maintain their liberties, and that fo-* 



feign aid was hardly neceffary even to the cftar 
blifliment of their independence. 

Without attempting to enumerate the feveral 
fcaufes, which, by the bleffing of Heaven, fuc- 
ceeded the noble ejforts of the Americans in fo 
tvonderful a manner, it may be ufeful to ob- 
ferve that the war, of which we have been here 
Ipeaking, was, to ufe the language of our ex- 
cellent Governor, " a juft and neceffary war of 
felf defence/' Every thing was contended for, 
that is dear to freemen. It was confequently a 
popular war. It was a war, which came hom^ 
to the bofom of every citizen. Each one felt 
himfelf immediately and vitally interefted in its 
iffue. One common fentiment, one common 
feeling, pervaded all claffes of men ; and a fpirit^ 
a valour, an energy, and a determination, wer^ 
difplayed, which, we truft, will, under limilar 
circumftances, ever be difplayed by the people 
of this country. 



But Nvhile we are admiring the virtues, th^ 
fervices, and the exploits, of our revolutionary 
patriots, let it never be forgotten, that the 
ftruggle, which they fo pertinacioufly and fo 
glorioufly maintained, was intended not merely 
for themfelves, but for their pofterity j and that 
the true way of bearing teftimony to their 
merits, is to preferve unimpaired the rich in- 
heritance derived from them* Thofe great and 
ineftimable privileges, which are the oflFspring 
of liberty, form at once the chief good of the 
nation, that pofTeffes them ; and the fublimeft 
monument to the memory of their brave de- 
fenders* 

Never, fince the eftablifliment of our indepen- 
dence, has it been more neceffary, that we 
fhould rally round thefe privileges, and exert 
all our powers in their defence, than at the pre- 
fent moment. Fadion, that deadly enemy of 
free governments,, now rages with unbounded 
licenfe. It convulfes the whole country to its 
centre, and threatens to proftrate the fair fabrick 



of our liberty. Power is the chief obje(E{ o£ 
fedion ; and in the choice of its means for the 
attainment of that objed, it is reftrained by 
no conliderations of patriotifm or of juftice* 
Hence that narrow policy, which has been fa 
extremely at variance with the beft interefts of 
the United States. Hence thofe repeated viola- 
tions of our national and flate conflitutions. 
Hence the inimitable proceedings of the repubm^ 
lican lordlings of this commonwealth ; and 
hence alfo (for faction is oftentimes too furious' 
to be difcreet) thofe egregious blunders, whichr 
have opened the eyes of the people to their real 
views ; which, we truft, will effectuate theip' 
removal from that branch of the legiflature, 
which they have dared to uferp ; and long pre- 
vent them from regaining an unmerited afcen- 
dency. To the fame fource may be traced thofe 
multifarious political manoeuvres, that juggling^ 
legerdemain policy, which have fo remarkably 
characterized our national rulers. Irrefiftibly 
attracted by the charms of office and of emolu- 
ment, they appear abfolutely to have forgotteaj*. 



11 

•tliat there is fuch a thing, as the general good. 
In what other way, on what other principles, can 
we poffibly account for their mcafures ? Had the 
publick good been confulted, we are unable to 
»believe, that theory would ever have ufurped, in 
the manner it has done, the prerogative of ex^ 
ferience ; that unworthy, pufillanimous compli- 
ances would have been fubftituted for a dignifi- 
ed courfe of action J that proclamations would 
have been relied on for the defence of our fea- 
ports J that commercial reftriclions would have 
been ufed to beat down the moft powerful na- 
tions on the globe ; and that in the room of a 
refpeclable number of frigates and men of war, 
we fliould have had, for the protection of a 
rommerce fecond only to that of Great-Britain, 
little more, than a miferable fwarmof con- 
temptible gun-boats. Had the publick good 
been confulted, our rulers would r.sver have 
cheriflied in themfelves, and cultivated in the 
people, partiality to one foreign nation, and pre- 
judice againft another \ they would not, by ab- 
Jed fervility to France, and by hedoring defi- 



12 

ance to England, have increafed the diiEcuIties, 
cf our neutral iituation, and courted a partici- 
pation in their fanguinary contefts. Had the 
publick good been confulted, our minifter at 
London would have been authorized to renew 
that treaty, which had been negotiated by Jay, 
and approved by Wafliington ; a treaty, under 
which our commerce had flouriihed beyond all 
example -, a treaty, which we might have had 
at this very time, and it is faid, with fome me- 
lioration ; but which had been fo much abufed 
by Mr. JetFerfon and his partizans, that they ne- 
ver could forgive it. Had the publick good been 
confulted, we fliould never have combined with 
other powers for the deftru^lion of our own 
commerce ; we {hould not have exhibited the 
aftonilhing fpedacle (however dignified in the 
view of a political dreamer) of a great maritime 
nation withdrawing fuddenly and entirely from 
the ocean ; contrad:ing and foldmg up her 
huge arms, which had encircled the whole globe, 
and united her with its remoteft regions ; and, 
from pure hoftility to the violators of her neu- 



13 

tral rights, abandoning all thofe immenfe ad-, 
vantages, which flie might have continued to 
enjoy. Had the publick good been confulted, the 
United States in all human probability would 
not have been reduced to their prefent wretch- 
ed fituation. Do we wifli to be fatisfied of this ? 
Let us then take a glance at the courfe, which 
has been purfued, lince the eftabliihment of the 
general government. That the adminiftration 
of Waftiington was precifely the one, which the 
circumftances of the country demanded ; that 
it was calculated to promote her beft interefts 
in the higheft pofiible degree ; cannot at this 
period require to be demonftrated. Enlighten- 
ed and juft and honourable, as it is now univer- 
fally acknowledged to have been ; fruitful as it 
was of bleffings to the whole community ; 
bright as its glories beamed upon the furround- 
ing univerfe ; it had, neverthelefs, to encounter 
a hoft of internal enemies. Unable to prevent 
the adoption of the conftitution ; and perhaps 
enraged at the difappointment of their gloomy 
predidions concerning it j they laboured to 



14 

wreft it from the cuftody of its friends. To ac- 
compltfli this nefarious purpofe, every mode of 
attack was pradifed, which ingenuity and ma- 
lice could invent. Their great engine was the 
prefs, which poured down an incelTant fliower 
©f abufe and calumny. The principal function* 
sries of the government were denounced ; their 
defigns were reprefented as dangerous to publick 
liberty ; every exertion was made to deprive 
them of the confidence of the people. Becaufc 
an ered and dignified poflure was carried to- 
wards foreign powers ^ becaufe energy and rigid 
impartiality attended the execution of the laws ; 
feecaufe thofe methods were reforted to, for 
maintaining the rights, the intereft and the 
honour of the country^ which have received the 
fandion of univerfal experience ; they were 
declared to be the friends of arbitrary power* 
Becaufe Prefident Wafhington invariably prc- 
ferved the dignity of his ftation •, becaufe on 
public occafions he always would appear in a 
decent garb ; becaufe he delivered fpeeches, in- 
ftcad of fending meffages, to Congrefs, at the 



15 

commencement of each feflion ; becaufe for ihv 
fake of economizing his time, and devoting the 
greateft poflible fliare of it to the fervice of the 
publick, he affigned certain hours of certain days^ 
to the reception of vifitors, who then crowded 
his rooms in fuch numbers, as to bear fome 
refembknce to the levees of ihe great in Eu- 
rope ; for fuch weighty reafons he and his ad* 
lifers were ferioufly branded as enemies to our 
republican inftitutions* 

But the deadlieft weapons were fupplied hf 
tlfe French revolution. I3f)on the breaking 
out of the war between France and England, 
u neutral pdfition was wifely chofen by our go- 
vernment ; and all its duties were faithfully 
and fteadily difcharged. But that attachment 
to France, and that hatred to England, which 
%rang up during the revolutionary conteft, and 
iRrhich were feduloully fwoln by the arts of 
defigning men, bore down upon that fyftcm 
and upon its authors with incredible fury. 
Nothing but the unparalleled popularity of 



15 

Wafhington, added to his unfiiaken refolutiori^ 
could have fupported the government againft 
the violence of the torrent. Supported by 
him, it remained immoveable. " The rain 
^' defcended, and the floods came, and the winds 
*' blew, and beat upon it ; and it fell not ; for 
" it was founded upon a rock." Wafhington 
at length afcended to the (kies, and (pardon the 
alluiion) his difciples were fcattered. Then 
commenced a new order of things. Philofo- 
phy took polTeflion of the chair of flate j her 
head teeming with fublime vifidns, which bade 
defiance to the maxims of common fenfe ; 
which laughed to fcorn the accumulated wif. 
dom of ages 5 and to difplay the practical ope- 
ration of which our country has ever iince been 
the fubjecfl of one continued courfe of political 
experiments. Has economy in our publick ex- 
penditures been the object of thefe experiments ? 
The moil thoughtlefs and extravagant profufion 
could not have been more injurious, than fuch 
an economy. It has indeed faved us the ex- 
penfe of a fuitable naval eftablilhment, and of 



17 

adequate fortifications on our feaboard. But it 
has greatly diminifhed the wealth of the coun- 
try y it has impaired our reverence for the laws ; 
it has impoverifhed our treafury ; it has ruin- 
ed our commerce ; and, from his flight among 
the ftars, it has brought the American eagle to 
the groundc 

Foreign aggreiGons have been invited by our 
Unarmed and defencelefs iituation. Neglecting 
to affume an attitude, calculated to command 
refpecl, we have become the fcorn and oppro- 
brium of the world. The fpirit, formerly ma- 
nifefted when injuries and infults were heaped 
upon us by France, taught that nation a leflbn, 
which, but for the fubfequent obfequioufnefs of 
the government, fiie would have long remem- 
bered. Since that glorious period, far different 
counfels have prevailed. France was not long 
in perceiving the change. She foon found, that 
flie could with impunity trample upon our 
rights and our honour ; and flie has availed 
herfelf of the occafion to the uttermofl; of her 



power. She has committed upon us outrages 
without number and without parallel. She has 
violated the moft folemn engagements ; ihe has 
robbed us of millions of our property ; ihe has 
burnt our Ihips upon the ocean ; flie has im- 
prifoned our fellow citizens j j(he has compelled 
other nations to adopt her fyftem of violence 
and rapine ; flie has driven us from the ports 
of Italy, of Denmark, of Pruffia; and by the 
war, which (he is, now carrying on with Ruf* 
fia, fhe aims a death blow at our remaining 
commerce to the continent of Europe. No cir- 
cumftance of indignity, of injuflice, of perfidy, 
has been wanting to aggravate her enormitiesi 
A nation, from which we have received fuch 
unexampled provocations, has yet had the ad- 
drefs to turn our vengeance from herfelf, and 
to dired it againil her enemy. YeSj fellow citi- 
zens, can it be realized ? we are at war, not 
with France, but with Great-Britain ! and this 
at a time, when w€ are wholly unprepared for 
war with that power ; when our treafury is ex- 
haufted j when the mercy and the magnanimity 



of the enemy are the only fecurity for our fea 
coaft ; when millions of our property, and thou- 
fands of our feamen, are abroad with nothing 
to protect them againft the cruifers of the mif- 
trefs of the ocean, but a force, brave indeed, 
yet too inconlidcrable to deferve the name of a 
navy. 

War with England — Alliance with France— 
What horrors are contained in thefe words ! 
Our beloved country fighting the battles of the 
great enemy of the human race ! A free people 
combining with a ferocious tyrant to enflave the 
world ! A nation, which but yefterday repelled 
the daring violators of the foil, now dead to the 
unparalleled diftreffes of Spain and Portugal, 
ftruggling for their exiflence ! This nation 
muft now aflift the legions of their cruel and in- 
exorable foe. We are to aid thofe hordes of in- 
furiate ravagers, that, like wolves and tigers, 
pour down from the Pyrenees, fcattering every 
where devaftation and difmay. We are to aid 
a ,monfter, who hangs over that ill-fated re* 
gion, like the genius of deftrudion. 



2Q • 



."What terrors round him wait I 



«« Amazement in his van, with flight combined, 
** And forrow's faded form, and folltude behind." 

We are at war with the land of our fathers | 
with the bulwark of our religion and of our in-, 
dependence. A fierce and bloody conflid is to 
rage between two nations, moft intimately con- 
neded together by blood, by manners, by laws, 
by religion, by literature, by the freedom of their 
political inftitutions ; two nations, who in ma- 
ny important refpeds are mutually dependent 
on each other ; and whofe true interefts would 
be promoted in proportion as the relations of 
amity between them were cheriflied and main- 
tained. Thefe kindred nations are deftined, by 
a deftru6live and deadly conflict with each 
other, to fubferve the views of a power, which 
is the common enemy of both ; to aggrandize 
an empire to which they have no affinity, no 
refemblance ; an empire, which is the feat of 
irreligion, of profligacy, and of defpotifm. Let 
it not be faid, that we are not yet in alliance 
with France. Whether in alliance with her or 



21 

not, we are fighting her battles. But, fellow 
citizens, an alliance with that nation muft 
eventually take place. It is impoffible for two 
powers long to contend with the fame enemy, 
and perfeveringly to decline the advantages 
which would refult from concert in their ope- 
rations. Neither reafon, nor experience, would 
juftify an expectation of fuch a courfe. We 
fliall, therefore, fooner or later, be in alli- 
ance with France. We fliall concur with 
the terrible Napoleon in the fupport of the con- 
tinental fyftem j and he in return will fend us 
fliips and foldiers. What ufe will be made of 
thefe French auxiliaries, whether to conquer 
Canada, or to keep us in fubjedion, may be beft 
known to the infatuated men who have brought 
us into our prefent deplorable lituation. One 
thing we all know, that every republick, which 
has been drawn by the fedudive arts of France, 
into an alliance with her, has been enflaved. 
From their fate let us take warning. It is not 
yet too late to fave the country. The friends 
of peace are unqueftionably able to bring 



^2 

iMs war to a fpeedy termination. It is a war 
sgainft commerce ; as fuch it muft, it will be 
regarded, by the people of the commercial 
flates. There can be no doubt, therefore, 
that the northern and eaftern fedion of the 
Union is oppofed to the war. Let immedi- 
ate meafures be taken to place this fad be- 
fore the eyes of our national rulers. Let the 
£riend*s of peace come forth j let them difplay 
themfelves ; let them demonflrate, by their 
numbers and by their fpirit, that the war, in- 
ftead of being fo popular, as its authors may 
have been led to believe, by the interefted and 
ambitious men to whom they have lent their 
ears, is odious to a great majority in this part 
©f the country ; and that fame love of power, 
which occafioned the war, will produce an imn. 
mediate peace. 

Few, if any of us, fellow citizens, have ever 
witneiTed a period fo dark and difconfolate as the 
prefent. We are involved in a war, which we 

b<:lieve ^^ unneceffary, unjulHfiable and impoli- 



23 

tic.'^ What difafters are to mark its progrefs 9 
tvhen, and what, is to be its termination, aref 
queftions, which may well excite the moft fear-* 
ful apprehenfions. Much blood will be fpilt ; 
perhaps our own blood, and the blood of thofe 
deareft to our hearts. Multitudes in eafy, and 
in affluent circumftances, will be reduced to in- 
digence. Would to God that thefe evils, dread- 
ful as they are, were the worft confequcnces to 
be apprehended ! But, fellow citizens, let us 
dired our views to that great and good Being, 
who was the never failing fupport of our pious 
anceftors in their times of trouble. Let us re- 
gard this awful calamity as an indication of his 
hot difpleafure at our follies and our crimes^ 
Let us by divine afliftance immediately re- 
nounce and forfake them. Then will an indul- 
gent God extend his arm for our relief j anJ 
our forrow will be changed into joy. 



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